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LARKHALL THISTLE 4 – 6
CAMBUSLANG RANGERS Saturday 6th
February at Gasworks Park |
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Cambuslang travelled to Gasworks Park on Saturday in search of
league points and came away with their objective achieved. But they
gained their victory only after a superb second half fightback after a string
of errors saw the visitors trailing at the interval. Writes
GORDON CLARK Both team managers must have been tearing their hair out as they
watched their sides play some fine attacking football only to shoot themselves
in the foot with basic defensive mistakes. Larkhall were first to threaten in the 5th minute when a long
range drive from Carr rattled the Rangers crossbar. However it was Cambuslang who drew first blood when Smith turned
onto a Donnelly pass and curled a shot into the top corner from 20 yards. However the lead did not last long as a Larkhall free kick
eluded the Rangers defence and ex-Cambuslang striker Davie Menelaws fired
Thistle level. In the 20th minute a high ball was only partially cleared by
Rangers and when it was played in again Menelaws was unmarked at the back
post to head Larkhall into the lead. Five minutes later and the match was again level when Donnelly
was tripped in the box and he dusted himself down to slot home the penalty kick. Disaster struck Ranges in the 32nd minute when Connolly made a
hash of taking a cross and Shiels glanced the ball home. Larkhalls No1 earned his corn when he made an amazing save
from a Donnelly volley and Rangers were cursing their luck as Thistle broke
down field for Carr to steer them into a 4-2 lead at the interval. Whatever was said in Rangers dressing room during the break
seemingly had the desired effect as Cambuslang turned the match on its head with a stunning three
goal burst. In the 50th minute Donnelly latched on to a cut-back from Hoey
to fire home from 18 yards and just two minutes later a 50 yard free kick
from the striker caught the home goalie out of position and the ball dropped
into the net. It was a strange way for Donnelly to complete his
hat-trick but he and his side were not complaining. Rangers striker Kilmartin then lived up to his nickname of
'Deco' as he curled a sweet free kick into the net to put Cambuslang in front
once more and complete a three goals in a six minutes spell for the
Lang. Cambuslang then took of Kilmartin and Hoey with McCrae and
Sweeney coming on, the later making his return to Rangers after a spell in
Australia. Cambuslang made the points safe with a sixth goal in the 67th
minute McCrae and Donnelly both had their efforts blocked but Smith was
on hand to force the ball home from close range. As Rangers ran down the clock Connolly made a fine save from
Carr then substitute Sweeney had the last chance of the match when
he broke clear but saw his parting shot blocked by the Larkhall 'keeper. It may have been a cold day but with such a hot display from
both sides on the pitch the fans barely seemed to notice the
chill. There was a total of four bookings, Rangers Ferguson and
Smith and both of Larkhalls central defenders but unlike recent meetings this
was a well mannered affair. |
F-T 1-2
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Lang Line Up |
For More Shots From The Game |
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 |
CONNOLLY DOAK McFARLANE INGLIS BISHOP HOEY (SWEENEY
65) THOMSON SMITH DONNELLY KILMARTIN
(McCRAE 60) FERGUSON
(IRVINE 75) D MATTHEWS DUNN TEMPLETON KERRIGAN |
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